Subj: Bill Cosby's Speech On May 17, 2004 (S552)
From: rfslick on 8/17/2007
Source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/cosby.asp
and http://www.gainformer.com/Files/Bill%20Cosby's%20Reflections.htm
Entertaine Bill Cosby gave a speech on May 17, 2004, at an NAACP event commemorating the 50th anniversary
of Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down school segregation.
In his exposition to that assembly, the man known to television viewing audiences as lovable, kindly, yet
permanently bemused patriarch Dr. Huxtable spoke harshly about his perception of the ills affecting black
American society. Cosby cited elevated school dropout rates for inner-city black students and criticized
low-income blacks for not using the opportunities the civil rights movement has won for them. Blacks, by
their unplanned pregnancies, poor parenting, lack of education, non-standard English, counter-culture dress,
and involvement in crime, fail the black community as well as themselves, he said.
Parts of that May 2004 speech were cobbled together into "We Can't Blame White People,"
a widely-circulated essay that has been both damned and praised.
Bill Cosby has not repudiated his controversial pronouncements or attempted to distance himself from
them. Instead, he has chosen to expand upon his theme on subsequent occasions and to make himself a
spokesperson for black self-empowerment through education and better parenting. In serving this cause,
he draws upon his celebrity to make his voice heard but, unlike many entertainers who take to the
soapbox to decry their bectes noires, he brings far more to the podium than merely a recognizable
face and a fan base. This man who is best known to the world as a comedian holds a doctorate in education.
He is also highly regarded in the African-American community, where he and his wife, Camille, are prized
for their philanthropy. (The Cosbys were present at the NAACP event to be honored for their open-handed
generosity in donating money to black colleges.)
They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.
I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English...
except these knuckleheads.
Mushmouth is what they speak!
You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.
People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education,
and now we've got these knuckleheads throwing that all away.
The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.
These people are not parenting.
They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry
when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2?
Where were you when he was 12?
Where were you when he was 18?
And, how come you didn't know that he had a pistol?
And where is the father?
Or who is his father?
(cosby3 photo here)
People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward,
pants down around the crack,
isn't that a sign of something?
They're walking around with their nasty underwear showing, and
holding onto their pants to keep them from falling to the ground!
Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up?
Isn't it a sign of something
when she has her dress all the way up to her panty line,
and got all types of needle piercings
going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from?
We are not Africans.
Those people are not Africans;
they don't know a thing about Africa .
With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mo hammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.
(cosby4 photo here)
Brown or black versus the Board of Education
is no longer the white person's problem.
We have got to take the neighborhood back.
People used to be ashamed.
Today a woman has eight children
with eight different 'husbands' --
or men or whatever you call them now.
We have millionaire football players
who cannot read.
We have million-dollar basketball players
who can't write two paragraphs.
We as black folks have to do a better job.
Someone working at Wal-Mart
with seven kids saying...
you are hurting us.
We have to start holding each other
to a higher standard.
We cannot blame the white people any longer.
It is not for media or anyone of this time
anymore to say whether I'm right or wrong.
It is time, ladies and gentlemen,
to look at the numbers.
Fifty percent of our children are dropping out
of high school.
Sixty percent of the incarcerated males
happen to be illiterate. There's a correlation.
Tell the media to stop asking me what I think about people who don't believe what I'm saying or feel that I'm too harsh or feel that I'm just running my mouth because I'm old.
Seventy percent of the teenagers pregnant happen to be African American girls.
Don't ask me to soften my message.
Bill Cosby
Verified by Snopes.com at
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/cosby.asp
Photo07 - black2-cosby1
PhotoBucket
at
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r98/schevel/Bill-Cosby.jpg
Photo08 - black2-cosby2
EarthLink
at
http://home.mindspring.com/~paulsc/images/bill_cosby.jpg
Photo15 - black2-cosby3
About Facts Entertainment
at
http://www.aboutfacesentertainers.com/images/caricature/artists/mills_e/mills_e_cosby_sm.jpg
Photo09 - black2-cosby4
Mr. B's Ticket Service
at
http://www.ticketservice.com/assets/images/bill_cosby1.jpg
Photo11 - black2-cosby5
MailHollywood.com
at
http://www.mailhollywood.com/pics/bill-cosby-1478.jpg
Photo14 - black2-cosby_sm
University of Wisconsin
at
http://www.uwec.edu/studentsenate/uac/special/images/cosby2c.jpg
========================================================================
Pictures not used
Photo01
from
Georga Informer
at
http://www.gainformer.com/Files/Bill%20Cosby's%20Reflections.htm
Photo02
Rice University
at
http://www.rice.edu/projects/thresher/issues/88/01.03.30/current/news/cosby.jpg
Photo03
FairfaxDigital
at
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/03/04/bill_cosby_narrowweb__200x291.jpg
Photo04
Penn State University
at
http://www.psu.edu/ur/archives/intercom_2000/June15/Images/Cosby_Bill.jpg
Photo05
The Biz of Knowledge
at
http://www.thebizofknowledge.com/uploads/bill%20cosby-thumb.jpg
Photo06
DeJarnette Designs
at
http://www.dejarnettedesigns.com/samport/Bill-Cosby.jpg
Photo10
Court Jones
at
http://www.courtjones.com/images/large_ill_humor/BillCosby.jpg
Photo12
National Public Radio
at
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2001/oct/cosby/011026.cosby.jpg
Photo13
TuckerGurl
at
http://tuckergurl.typepad.com/tuckergurl/images/040709_BillCosby-thumb.jpg